Los Angeles County created the Rapid Diversion Program, a court-based pre-plea program to help divert people out of jails and connect them to rapid mental health evaluation and service linkage. The program had a 0% rearrest rate for graduates of the program.
Wendy Ware, 2023
People of color, those experiencing homelessness, and people with unmet mental health needs—now 41 percent of the jail population
Vera Institute of Justice. 2023
30 percent of people in the United States have criminal histories
Rand 2022
Between 1973 and 2009, the nation’s prison population grew by 705 percent, resulting in more than one in 100 adults behind bars
Pewtrusts 2011
California is the largest correctional system in the nation
Bird, M., Nguyen, V., & Grattet, R. 2022
The cost of imprisoning one person in California has increased by more than 90% in the past decade, reaching a record-breaking $132,860 annually, according to state finance documents
HWANG, K., & DUARA, N. 2022
The US prison system was not designed to house people for long sentences. In the early 1900s, it was assumed that short-term exposure to prison conditions would be enough to rehabilitate individuals
Flanagan 1995
People sentenced to life as juveniles and then unexpectedly released are thrust into adult roles, faced with attempting to forge and rebuild re lationships amid lost time and skipped developmental stages.
Washington DM 2022